It's the most wonderful time of the year, and along with shopping and cooking and eating, it's also a great time to relax at home with a good drink.
With this in mind, we've compiled a list of easy-to-make cocktails from classics to those with a modern twist.
Ingredients
Method
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into half pint over cubed ice.
Dusted nutmeg over the top to serve.
Ingredients
Method
Add the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Ingredients
Method
Add Speyburn 10 Year Old, cordial and bitters to a highball glass with good quality ice cubes and top with Champagne.
Add two dashes of Angostura Bitters to add complexity and complement the flavours.
Garnish with an apple slice, or star anise if you want a touch of theatre.
Ingredients
Method
Add Bruadar, Old Perth Original, PX Sherry and your choice of maple syrup or honey to a cocktail shaker and shake until well-mixed.
Pour into a mug or tall, heatproof glass and top up with hot chocolate.
Ingredients
● 30ml Lidl Ben Bracken Islay Single Malt Whisky
● 100ml white wine
● 100ml apple juice
● 5ml honey (1 bar spoon)
● A pinch (each) of ginger, cinnamon + nutmeg powder
Method
Warm all ingredients gently in a small pan with seasonal fruit (optional) and add them to a toddy glass.
Serve with a cinnamon stick to garnish.
Recipe notes from Mike Aikman from Edinburgh's Bramble: "this is a hybrid of a hot toddy and a mulled wine, using white wine instead of red wine.
"Served warm, this is a much lighter alternative (as some people find mulled wine too rich).
"Here we are using whisky to fortify (instead of classic brandy), cloudy apple juice and a touch of honey, along with powdered spices (ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon).
"Options here to swap any of these for your preferred spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise etc). The wine could be changed, as well as the ingredient ratios to make it sweeter/boozier etc."
